Winter Wonderland Challenge

Welcome to our new Snowflakes challenge at Winter Wonderland.

Our theme this week is

Pastel Colours.

You do not have to use a Christmas image yet.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is

Di's Digi Stamps

and for the winner, their generous prize is

$12 Voucher

I chose to make a bag, using a paper mache blank.

I coloured some white paper using Distress Ink and then randomly

stamped images over it.

The main image stamps are from Lili of the Valley.

Some of the flowers I made myself and others are from my stash.

The fun bit was making it in my new craft room!!

If you have seen those 'Hoarder' programmes on TV, my room

 is a bit like that at the moment. I only have a small space on my desk.

The contents of the bedrooms surrounds me.

We had the carpet laid in the lounge and dining room yesterday, Tuesday.

At the same time, we had the decorators painting in the hall and the plumber,

replacing the rusty radiators in both bathrooms, with heated towel rails. 

Along with the carpenter replacing the door handles!!

Another quiet day! But well worth it!

As I am writing this, the carpet fitters have arrived 

to lay the carpets in the bedrooms and hall.

The painters and carpenter have retreated for a coffee break!

This should be their last day.

The electrician is coming later this afternoon, to finish putting up the lights.

Hopefully that will be the end to the mayhem

and we can then finally unpack everything!

I can't believe that we have only been here for 6 weeks!!

This is the other side. I can't do both sides the same. Too boring!

Hope you will pop over to the Winter Wonderland challenge,

to see the stunning makes from our lovely Snowflake Teamies.

We have a number of new members and all are amazing crafters.

Don't forget you have to be in it to win it!!

Thanks for taking the time to visit, as you know,

I love reading your lovely messages.

Hugs,

Carolxxxx

Winter Wonderland Challenge

We are just about surviving, surrounded by decorators, boxes 

and nothing where it should be!!! Ohh! and loads of dust!!

The previous occupants of our house, decided to paint ceiling coving with gloss paint! 

Less said about that the better!

My craft room, lounge and dining room are now decorated.

They have started bedroom 2 and will be back in there on Monday.

Then when that is painted, we will move our bed etc into bedroom 2,

so they can then do our bedroom and ensuite.

The hall will be the last thing!

We are also having the loo and basin changed and a new shower 

in the ensuite. 

Then on Thursday, the old fireplace and fire are going to be 

removed from the lounge and replaced with a lovely light oak one.

The electrician is popping in some days also, to put up new lights in all the rooms.

We still can't find door handles we like!

Still trying to decide on curtains or blinds......decisions...decisions!!

That is where we are at with the work at the moment!

And I am still lousy at making tea!!

Now onto this weeks challenge at Winter Wonderland.

This is my card. ok I know it's a bit late on my blog. 

It was only a day late on the WW blog.

I managed to find somewhere to sit and make this card,

but then I couldn't find my lead to connect my camera to my computer!!

Rick eventually found it when we were putting the furniture

back into the lounge.

The computer was disconnected for a few days, when all the wood work

was being done in my craft room. So then I was able to put my card

onto the WW blog.

Our sponsors for this weeks challenge, which has the theme

Sparkle and Shine,

are

The Craft Barn

(Where I used to be a Tutor)

They are giving a whopping £10 voucher for the lucky winner.

That is where I bought the Stamping Bella stamp for my card.

The second Sponsor is

Crafty Sentiments.

Three Digis to the second winner is their generous prize.

I think over the last few weeks, my mojo has been packed in a box 

with all my stash!! 

Now it was time to unpack it, it was nowhere to be seen!

My colouring was rubbish and I really struggled to get in the 'zone'!!

So for much better inspiration, pop over to see all the 

glorious makes from my amazing teamies here.

This card is also for my Granddaughter's 10th birthday on Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my moans!!

I think I am just tired, getting up early every morning.

Also all the stress of the selling  and moving has caught up with me.

Hang on in there as I will be back to myself soon,I promise.

Big hugs,

Carolxxxxxx

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall!!!

Hi there, it's me here!!

I am never moving house ever again!!

What a nightmare!!

We have had even more problems with the internet, (AOL), as we upgraded to

Windows 10 before we moved. Apparently, AOL was not compatible with it.

They then had an upgrade to download, but it did not work for us.

To cut a very long story short, 3 days and 3 different technicians,

they finally sorted us out! Well nearly......technician number 2, messed up 

our main computer so bad, hubby lost all saved emails!

Then I had lost my access to all my blogs!!

Another 4 hours later, all was ok!!

We have been really busy and have got my craft room ready for the carpet to

go down and then all the woodwork to be replaced.

We bought all the shelving and work tops with us.

On Monday morning at 8am, (ugh!!) we have carpenter, decorators and 

a plumber starting work here. 

They have said it will take around 2 weeks or just over. 

On Tuesday, an electrician will also start! 

Plenty of tea and biscuits me thinks!!

It should be a bit of fun too, as the carpenter is an Australian, 

from the same area as my husband! So we had a lot of Australian

strange words being used, when they came to give us a quote.

This is a mirror I made before we move and has been sitting is draft

for a while.

I painted it with Paper Artsy Chalk Paint I bought from the Craft Barn.

Along with my favourite mask, Honeysuckle, from Imagination Crafts.

Also the diamond shapes that were from Tando .

The die in the background is from Sizzix. The name escapes me and 

all my dies are buried in the spare bedroom.

The blue flowers I made but the others were bought from Hobbycraft.

Well that is it for now. I am doing my first craft fair up here on the 1st March.

It's in a hotel on the beach. So I am hoping my room will be ready in

time for me to make some more stock.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving me all the wonderful, supportive messages.

you are such amazing friends.

Biggest hugs,

Carolxxxx

I'm back!!!

Hi everyone,

I'm back!!!!

The man at BT finally found the button to press,

to get us back online!!HeeHee!!

THANK YOU for all your lovely messages I found,

when I finally was able to log on yesterday!

You are all so kind.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

The removal men came at 8am on the Monday and 

7.30am on Tuesday 15th, the completion day!!

I was soooo tired!! Two mornings, getting up at 05.30!!

They left just after 8am.

We finally left at 9.45am with a fully loaded car!!

We took a very steady drive up, which took 3 hours 10 minutes.

We didn't stop and arrived just before 1pm. We then had to wait for the

money to work it's way up the chain.

We finally got the keys at 3.45pm!!

It was cold, drizzly rain while we were waiting but stopped whilst

they brought our stuff in the house.

The lady had left her washing machine in situ!!! So with a bit of help

from the removal men, they disconnected it and took it out.

I called her agent and asked him to get her to arrange her removal men,

to come and pick it up!!

They did the next day.

Our removal men were brilliant and went far beyond what they were there for!!

I don't think the house or garden had been touched since our offer was accepted!!

The grass is so long, it will have to be strimmed before trying to

cut it with a mower!!

I vacuumed the lounge and hall and my Dyson was filled with stuff!! Yuk!

I had to empty it so I could clean the rest of the rooms!

I washed everything down and vacuumed the whole house before we left.

A few days before that, I even weeded the garden!!

There is a lot more to do here than we first thought.

One of the toilets flush doesn't work properly.

Also the shower in the en-suite has got a problem and will need replacing.

Both of the radiators in the bathrooms are rusty and need replacing!

We will probably replace them with heated towel rails.

The list is too long and I don't want to bore you!LOL!!

We went out and bought new lighting today and ordered more online.

I have never seen a house where the lounge, dining room,

hall and 2 of the bedrooms, all had the same

awful, heavily textured paper on the walls!! Yuk!!

Homebase had a wallpaper steamer half price today, so we bought one!!

But we are in, Christmas tree is up and we had a lovely Christmas Day

with a friend that joined us, as he lives close by.

He was amazed how much we had done!!

On the plus side..... the rooms are much bigger than we remembered!!

The lounge is huge and the bedrooms too!!

Now onto my latest card, for the last Winter Wonderland challenge for 2015.

You have until the 7th January to get your cards in,

to be in with a chance of winning one of the prizes.

The theme is Bingo and I am hosting this challenge,

so all the details are to be found here.

I used my favourite Lili Of The Valley snowman stamp!

Coloured with Distress Inks and added plenty of Stickles Star Dust.

It came with the text stamp too.

The frame was the waste from another card

and edged with Sakura Star Dust Coloured Pens.

I had a quick peek at the WW blog and the DT cards are stunning as always!

Do find the time to check them out for some inspiration.

I would like to wish all my followers and visitors

A VERY HAPPY 2016

I hope you stop by next year and leave me your lovely messages!!

I do so love to read them.

Hugs,

Carolxxxx

YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WE'VE DONE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

We managed to exchange contracts today!!

 

 

It started at just after 9am,

but by lunchtime, we hadn't got

any further than the second person

from the bottom!!

 

The solicitor was not answering her

emails from Emma, our solicitor!!

 

By 2pm, Emma was pulling her hair out,

as there are 6 levels in the chain.

We were going through so many
different emotions.
Anger, worry and frustration!

 

By around 2.45pm I had a call from Emma,

telling me we had finally exchanged!!

 

What a relief!!

We are now moving on Tuesday next week.

 

Because it's about 4 hours travelling time, the removal

company are coming at 8am Monday morning.

They will load the truck with all of our things,

other than our bed, fridge and TV!

 

They will then come back Tuesday morning at 8am,

load our bed etc onto the truck and off we go.

 

They will unload as much as they can, depending

on the light and what time they get there.

 

They will sleep in the truck overnight, all 3 of them!

They will travel back to East Grinstead

on Wednesday morning.

 

One of our friends will meet us at the house.

He is going to help us unpack etc.

 

I am absolutely shattered!

The stress over the last 6 months and the lack

of sleep for the last week has caught up with me.

I am going to have the best sleep ever tonight!!

 

Hubby is already snoring his head off!!

I think I will join him now.

 

I would like to give a massive

THANK YOU

to all my lovely followers, who left me

the most wonderful and caring messages.

 

I feel so lucky to have you as friends.

 

Every time I read them, they picked me up and

even sometimes brought a tear to my eyes.

 

You are all so very kind.

 

Sending you all a massive HUG!

 

Carolxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



And Now!!!!!!

It's 6 months today, since we accepted our first full asking price

on our bungalow!!

And we are still here!!

 

Photos of now as promised!!

 

All the work tops have been taken off the walls, along

with the storage on the walls above the desk.

Very depressing! 

The wall units are now on the floor, with a section of worktop

balanced on the top of them. Just so we can use the computer.

 

 

Desk top leaning against the wall, along with the under desk shelving.

Dollshouse in bubble wrap.

Boxes full of stash!

 

 

Boxes of paper gone! Packed in crates! 

 

How I hate mess and this is really getting to me!

The joy of being a 'Virgo'!!

The whole house is just piles of boxes and very claustrophobic.

 

We are hoping to exchange contracts today but we don't

think it's going to happen.

They did try last Friday but the bottom of the chain

wasn't ready.

 

All the rest of us are sitting surrounded by boxes, waiting for

the solicitors at the bottom to get on with the job!!!! (SCREAM!!)

 

I think the problem is, that you have no control over what is happening.

Other people are dealing with it and you cannot speak to them and with

some of them, you are just a piece of paper in a file!!!

 

We are very lucky with our solicitor, as she just gets on with things

and is always there to speak to.

She is absolutely brilliant and keeps us informed as to what is going on.

She also has a great sence of humour to ease the stress.

All in all she is the best!!

Even the agent we are buying through says it too.

 

Shame the others are not as efficient!

 

Hope to have good news soon.

Hugs,

Carolxxxx

My Craftroom Before!!

First I must welcome Lia, my new follower.

Thank you for taking the time to join me,

and I hope you enjoy what you see.

Warning........Photo Overload!!!!!

This was my craft room before I had to pack it all away, ready for the move!

First my Dollshouse corner and hubby's computer space!!

Pictures below ----

Printer/scanner/copier, Joy A4 Die machine. (clock drying on top of machine!)

Behind machine, box of masks and embossing folders, box of dies.

Underneath, pink box full of boxes of embossing powders,

next to it, A4 boxes of paper pads, 2 rows deep.

Next to boxes, Watercolour paper pads.

On the floor, more papers and card

In corner , too much to list!!

Includes assorted card blanks in use and huge boxes of Christmas stuff

amongst other papers pads.

On the wall, drawers full of Distress Inks, Stazon Inks, Pigment Inks,

Alcohol ink bottles, flowers, bling, papers, rubber stamps,

acrylic blocks and assorted other bits of craft stash!!

Little heart drawers containing Stickles, Card Candy,

Die cut Leaves and flowers.

Files under desk contain rubber stamps filed in type/company

on acetate in pockets.

Box under contains made cards.

Top of desk, water colour pens, mug with Sakura Stardust pens.

Glues and tools.

Drawers contain Alcohol pens, ribbons, lace, bling and templates.

Underneath, Heart drawers hold flowers.

Other boxes have clay and moulds and made clay items

Too much here to list!! Blue box has box blanks and other blanks too!!

Plastic boxes below and in next picture below

all colour coded papers in alphabetical order!!

Boxes of assorted items including clock mechanisms

and punches. Drawers of spare glue and tapes.

3boxes of Gilding Flakes, next to boxes of paper pads.

Drawers full of embellishments.

Drawers of Vellum, Acetate, cards that I made for Magazine tutorials.

Spare pens, H2O's and Mica Sprays.

  Some of my dies!!

Masks and Embossing Folders

Tomorrow I will show just a couple of pictures of

how my room looks now!!!

It's very sad!

Hope you are not too bored.

 Thanks for visiting and love reading your messages.

Hugs,

Carolxxxx

The Holly And The Ivy!

Hi everyone,

Today is the first day of the Winter Wonderland Challenge,

with the Snowflake Team.

 

The theme this week is

Holly and/or Ivy.

 

I chose to use an old Lilly Of The Valley stamp.

Coloured with Distress Inks and added Stickles

and Sakura Star Dust Pens.

 

 

Our Sponsor for this week is Di's Digi Designs

and the generous prize is

a 12$ Voucher!

 

 

Don't forget you have to be in it to win it!!

 

Pop over to Winter Wonderland blog, for some amazing

inspiration from our talented Snowflake Teamies.

 

I will enjoy, as always, visiting your blogs

and leaving you a message.

 

Hugs,

 

Carolxxxx

A Trio of Trees.

I bought these MDF trees at Ally Pally from Anna-Marie Designs.

 

I painted them with Paper Artsy Antartica Chalk Paint from The Craft Barn.

Added some Crackle Glaze and then a coat of

Paper Artsy Snowflake Chalk Paint.

 

I stuck the trees into the base and there they sat, unfinished

on my desk for a few weeks.

I was waiting for some inspiration as how I

wanted to decorate them.

 

A friend saw them and asked how much I was selling them for and

was quite upset when I said they were for us!!

 

She doesn't know yet, but I have made one for her too, as a pressie!

 

 

You can't actually see from the photos, but I built up the base

with Plaster Of Paris fabric.

It's a bit like what they use for broken limbs.

It was very messy!!

 

The Reindeer is a Tando one, also from The Craft Barn.

I added the die cut swirls onto him.

 

I loved making this, even though it was very messy!!

 

I hope to have some exciting news next week!

So watch this space!!

Thanks for popping by and leaving me such lovely messages.

 

Big hugs,

 

Carol xxxx